Lost
by LastRobyn
Summary: The new VR world of Sword Art Online enthralled all the people of the world, until a dark twist emerges. The Ten-Thousand players who logged in first are trapped In the game. To escape they must complete all 100 floors of Aincrad, and If you die In the game you die in real life. Join Kirito and a new character as they make their way through Aincrad, Lost in a virtual world.
1. Chapter 1: Cold Eyes

Chapter 1

Cold Eyes

Kirito made his way toward the outdoor theatre where the meeting was being held. Apparently there was a meeting being held to discuss strategy, organized by a man named Diabel. Kirito took a seat in the higher rows, away from other people.

"Okay, let's get started people!"

A man with blue hair, a sword and a shield made his way forward.

"Thank you all for coming today," he continued. "My name is Diabel. I like to consider my 'job' as knight.

The crowd laughed at Diabel.

"There's no job system in this game!"

"A knight?"

"Is this meeting a joke too?

"You should take this seriously!"

When the crowd died down, Diabel, with a serious look on his face, spoke. "Today, our party found the boss room at the top of the tower.

The crowd let out a collective gasp, some watching with disbelief while some faces turned white.

"We need to defeat the boss, reach the second floor, and tell everyone waiting in the town of beginnings that it is possible," proclaimed Diabel. "Everyone present here shares this duty! Do you all agree!?"

The crowd was silent for a brief moment. But quickly after that the crowd began murmuring assent, followed by clapping and cheering.

"Alright," said Diabel, grinning slightly. "First, divide into parties of six."

Kirito gasped, looking rapidly around the theatre, watching everybody form parties, and flew into a panic trying to find someone to partner with.

"I'll be the leader," said one person to a group of people.

"An ordinary party has no chance against a floor boss. We'll need to form a raid group using multiple parties," Continued Diabel."

"Of course we'll be in the same party," one man said to his friend.

"Let's do this," grinned another boy.

Seeing a lone female figure far off to the left side of the stands, alone. She appeared to be female, her head and face covered by a cowl. She wore standard red and white beginners gear with a bronze breastplate. Scooting along the bench toward her, he spoke."You got left out too?"

"No," she said. "I wasn't left out. I just stayed out of it because everyone seemed to know each other already."

"A solo player?" Kirito asked quizzically. "Then want to form a party with me?"

The girl moved her head a little, but said nothing.

"He just said we can't beat the boss on our own," pushed Kirito. "So just for this fight?"

The girl stared blankly for a couple more seconds before nodding slightly, accepting the request. Kirito grinned slightly as Diabel called the crown back to attention.

"Okay, have you found your parties? Then-"

"JUST A SECOND!"

A lone figure bounded down the stairs. A spiky red-head with a small goatee.

"I wanna say something before we fight the boss," he proclaimed loudly. "Some of you Here need to apologize for the two-thousand people who died so far!"

"Kibau," inquired Diabel. "are you referring to the beta testers?"

"Of course I am!" said Kibau. "On the day this stupid game started, the beta guys ditched us beginners, and they all disappeared. They took all the good hunting spots and easy quests for themselves, so only they could get stronger. And then, they just ignored the rest of us!" Kibau glared at the crowd. "I'm sure someone here was in the beta!" he continued. "They should get on their knees and apologize, and give up all the items and money they hoarded. Otherwise we can't trust them as party members, and they shouldn't trust us!" Kibau crossed his arms defiantly, daring anyone to challenge him.

"I don't think the Beta testers have anything to do with that."

A person walked out of the shadows of the theatre entrance to the right of Diabel. He looked as though he had been listening to the whole meeting in the shadows. He wore the same beginning training clothes as Kirito. He had neat, but wild brown hair that went almost into his eyes,which were bright blue, and almost to his shoulders in the back. His eyebrows were thicker than the average person and he looked about as old as Kirito, and about as tall. His sword was short and had a black handle.

"And when did I ask you?" said Kibau contemptuously.

"You didn't. But I'm talking anyway." He starigtened his back a little as he moved closer to Kibau. "You have no proof that this is the beta tester's fault." the stranger continued. "You base your thoughts on your own opinion aand thoughts. If you think about it, the beta testers don't have that much of an advantage. So get lost."

Kibau's face grew red with anger. "Care to put your weapon where your mouth is?" sending the stranger a duel request.

The side of the stranger's mouth curled up a little. "Sure…" accepting the request.

"Stop, we shouldn't fight wi-" Started Diabel.

"Shut up." The stranger pulled out his sword. It was a Swordbreaker. A short sword with the blade covered in square indentations. Kirito gazed at it with awe, having not seen it in the beta test. " He needs to see that it's not right to judge without knowing the circumstances."

"I know the circumstances perfectly well," roared Kibau. "The beta testers left us to die. There's no way that we're even close to their level."

"Lets see then," snarled the stranger, readying his weapon.

The countdown for the duel started, the winner being the first to knock the other into the yellow. Kibau also readied his sword, glaring at his opponent and breathing heavily. The stranger standing still, staring coldly at Kibau. As the timer reached zero, The stranger charged at Kibau at an incredible speed, giving Kibau barely enough time to raise his weapon, pushing Kibau back a couple feet and astonishing the crowd. Kibau grimaced as the stranger pushed his blade closer to his face, staring into the cold eyes of the stranger, slowly realizing that he had no chance of winning.

Suddenly, the stranger moved his blade near the hilt of Kibau's and twisted, his Swordbreaker's indentations catching the blade and throwing it off to the side.

Kibau gaped as he watched his sword fly off to the side. The crowd did the same, for they had not expected a higher level player to be beaten so easily.

Kibau's shock morphed into rage. Leaping up and glaring at the stranger, he said with a red face, "Y-YOU! You're a beta tester, aren't you?! That's how you beat me so easily and how you got that sword!"

The stranger chuckled. "I'm no beta tester. I'm a normal player like you. That's the point. The beta testers may have a head start, but anyone can be powerful even without that head start. Remember that."

Kirito stared at the stranger with wide eyes, unable to believe the power that he had seen. " _Who is this guy?"_ Kirito thought to himself.

Everything was quiet for a second, then a tall black man stood up and walked to the center of the stage.

"May I speak?" he asked in a deep voice.

After Diabel and Kibau nodded, the man continued speaking. "My name is Egil. Kibau, tell me if I have this right. You're saying that because the beta testers didn't take care of them, many beginners died. That they should take responsibility, apologize, and provide compensation, correct?"

"Y-yeah," stammered Kibau.

Egil brought out a small brown book. "You got this guide book didn't you? It was provided for free at the item store."

"S-sure, why?"

"It was compiled from information given by the beta testers."

Kibau grimaced hearing this, while the crowd whispered to each other.

"Listen," Egil said. "Everyone had equal access to this information, and even still, many players died. I thought the topic of discussion here was what we could learn from their deaths, and how that can help us defeat the boss."

Kibau, hearing this, stormed off to the front row of seats and folded his arms, clearly not happy that his opinion was not being represented the way he wanted it to be.

"There we go, we did NOT need to fight to make that point." Egil emphasized as he watched the stranger return to the shadows.

"I was going to show him the book," the stranger said, not turning around. "He just started blabbling about fighting before I could. So I improvised."

The stranger continued walking into the theatre side door and leaned against the wall, unseeable against the dark shadows.

"All right then," Diabel began. "Can we resume?

The crowd nodded collectively, ready to finally get to business.

"The latest edition of that guide book was just issued, and it contains information on the boss." Diabel opened the book, reading out loud. "According to it, the boss's name is Illfang the Kobold lord. He is guarded by assistants known as ruin kolbold sentinels. He is armed with an axe and a buckler. He has four health bars, and when the las one enters the red, he switches to a curved sword-type called a talwar. His attack pattern changes, as well."

Diabel closed the book as people murrmurred in amazement. "This concludes the briefing. Lastly, items will be automatically distributed. EXP goes to the party that defeats the monster, and whoever receives an item keeps it. Any objections?"

Nobody spoke. "Ok," finished Diabel. "We leave tomorrow at ten in the morning. See you there!"

Everyone immediately stood and either left or started talking. The stranger who fought Kibau emerged from the shadows and began walking up the stairs. Kirito, having a sudden desire to follow him did so, catching up about 50 feet away from the theatre. It wasn't hard, seeing as the stranger seemed to be in no hurry to go anywhere.

"Hey!" Kirito called, about 5 feet from him. "Hold on."

"Yeah?" Answered the stranger, turning his head to gaze at Kirito with his cold eyes. "What do you want?"

"Its just...uhh…" Stammered Kirito.

"Make it quick." The stranger growled.

"Sorry, I was just wandering if you were solo," Kirito said quickly.

"What's it to you?" The stranger snapped.

"I was wondering if you'd consider partying with me."

The stranger turned his head forward, away from Kirito, hiding a bit of suprise. But he responded. 'Why?"

"Well…" Kirito chose his words carefully. "It's just that I also happen to be solo, and I have another member of the party who was solo, and I figured small groups would be better than alone."

Kirito waited anxiously while the stranger quietly pondered the proposal. "Fine," he said. "But I warn you, I'm not easy to get along with."

"It's alright," Kirito replied with a small smile on his face. "What's your name?"

The stranger hesitated. "Robyn," he answered carefully. "With a Y mind you. There was already a Robin with an I who created his account first. I met him. He was a jerk."

Kirito grinned. "I'm Kirito. It's a pleasure to meet you Robyn."

Kirito then proceeded to send Robyn a party invitation, which Robyn accepted.

"Well if you excuse me, I'm going to go fight some mobs."

"Mind if I come with?"

"If you insist," The swordsman replied, walking toward the dungeon.

"I insist then."

"Fine."

Nothing was said as the two walked into the dungeon, but it seemed that a little something new had entered Robyn's cold, blue eyes.


	2. Chapter 2: Resolve

Chapter 2

Resolve

Robyn and Kirito made there way toward the city, done with their grinding. Robyn had hardly spoke during the whole session, aside from simple game-related words. Kirito had attempted to make conversation at several points, only to receive simple, few-worded answers from him that never seemed to answer the question. They continued into the town silently, until Robyn stopped. Kirito stopped as well and looked where Robyn was looking, seeing the woman that Kirito had sat with during the strategy meeting.

"Isn't she the one in our party?" Asked Robyn.

"Yeah…" Kirito trailed off, then made her way toward The woman, who was eating a piece of tough bread.

"It's pretty good isn't it?" He said to her.

Robyn watched without speaking from the side, observing the situation.

"May I sit down?" Kirito asked her. When she nodded slightly, he sat next to her, but when he did she scooted farther away from him. Kirito mostly ignored this and pulled bread of the same type as the woman's out of his inventory and began to eat. Robyn did the same.

"Do you guys really think it's good?" She asked.

"Of course," said Kirito. "I've been eating at least one daily, ever since arriving in this town. I do change it up a little, though."

"Change it up?"

Kirito nodded and pulled out a jar. "Try putting some on the bread."

The woman put her hand over the jar. A blue light appeared in her hand. She moved her hand over the bread as if spreading something with two fingers.

"Cream?" She said, surprised as butter was spread on her bread.

Kirito and Robyn both got some butter and spread it on their pieces of bread. The jar then shattered into triangles of light and disappeared as Kirito and Robyn began to eat. The woman looked closely at the bread before gobbling it down at an incredible speed, sighing after finishing.

It's a reward for a quest called "The Heiffer Strikes Back," in the village behind us. If you want to do it, I'll show you the trick."

"I didn't come to this town to eat good food," she said.

"Then why did you?"

"So I can still be me," she said. I'd rather stay myself until the very end then sit and rot away at an inn, back in the first time." The woman folded her hands. "Even if I get killed by a monster, I don't want to lose to this game, no matter what."

Robyn stepped forward and wiped his mouth with his sleeve. Not necessary in the game, but still a habit. "That's quite a resolve," he commented. "I hope to see you live up to it."

"Resolve?" She asked quizzically.

"The goal that drives you through your life," Robyn proclaimed. "The goal that gives tour life meaning as you live on. Your's is strong. I expect that everyone has either picked up this resolve or stayed far away from it. The ones at the meeting today? They have the same resolve you do. I expect Kirito has it too."

"I guess I do," reaffirmed Kirito. "I will make it through this game. I left my family with regrets, I need to fix that.

"Good," Robyn concluded. "We need people like that if we want to make it through this game." He began to walk away, but froze as the woman called out after him.

"What about yours?"

"My what?"

"Your resolve…." She hesitated. "What is it?"

Robyn began to walk away, answering as he walked. "I don't feel like sharing that."

"Why?" The woman chided quietly. "You gave this whole spiel about resolve, but won't talk about yours? Why is that?"

Robyn stopped, turned his head a little, and quietly uttered, "Because I'm not sure if it can even come into play."

* * *

The raid party made their way through the forest, Kirito, Robyn and their female party member near the back, talking.

"Let's go over it again" Kirito said. "We leftovers are supposed to target the boss's helpers, the Ruin Kobold Sentinels."

"We know." Robyn and the woman sighed in unison.

"I'll use a sword skill to knock their pole axes up. The second I do, you guys switch in."

"Switch?" The woman queried.

"Is this the first time you've been in a party?" Asked Kirito.

"Yes."

Kirito and Robyn stopped walking, after which, the woman stopped too. Kirito slumped over and sighed. Robyn face-palmed.

"Ooooohh boy," Robyn sighed. This is going to be quite a boss fight.

* * *

The entire raid grouped truged their way up to the boss room, and stopped in front of the door. Diabel, who was leading, turned around and pushed his blade into the ground.

"Listen up everyone. I have just one thing to say."

"Let's win."


	3. Chapter 3: Beater

Chapter 3

Beater

"Let's go!" Said Diabel, opening the door to the boss room. He lead the way inside, the raid party following him. Robyn armed with his sword breaker, Kirito a plain sword, and the women a rapier. The boss room was long and dark, with the outline of the boss sitting on a throne at the end of the room. As the raid party approached the halfway point, the whole room lit up, and the boss leapt across the room toward them, roaring loudly.

" _Really Kayaba?_ " Thought Robyn. " _A demon kangeroo?_

The boss was around twenty feet tall, bright red, with glowing red eyes and a long tail, and armed with the reported axe and buckler. The name "Illfang the Kobold Lord appeared over its head, and three health bars near its head. Three Ruin Kobold Sentinels spawned around the boss, and they all charged the players, Illfang not far behind.

"Commence attack!" Diabel ordered.

Everyone charged into battle, some attacking the sentinels while others attacked the boss. Robyn, Kirito and their partner attacked the sentinels, Kirito knocking up the pole axes while Robyn and the woman finished it off.

Diabel continued to shout orders to the raid party. All was going well. "Squad A! Squad C! Switch! Here it comes! Squad B, Block! Squad C! Keep guarding and prepare to switch! Now! Switch, withdraw and prepare to attack!" Diabel addressed Kirito and Robyn's squad along with two others; E, D and F, keep sentinels off us."

"Roger!" Said Kirito, while Robyn knodded and grunted. Kirito knocked a sentinels pole axe up and said "switch!"

"Number 3!" Cried the women as she attacked the sentinel, shattering it into shards of blue light.

" _Oh dang…_ " Robyn thought, and by the way Kirito's face looked he was thinking the same thing. " _She's no beginner._ _I can't even see her rapier move!"_

"Good job," exclaimed Kirito, turning his attention toward the boss, which had just changed.

The boss had just hit red on it's last health bar and roared, throwing away it's axe and buckler.

"Looks like the information was correct," proclaimed Kibau.

"Stand back!"

Diabel ran forward with his longsword ready, clearly about to take on the boss alone.

" _Why is he… Wait….no…_ " thought Robyn. " _We were going to surround it with the entire group._ "

Diabel readied his sword skill as Illfang pulled out his weapon,

Pulling a long, straight sword out of a scabbard on its back.

Robyn's face turned to shock. " _Crap,_ " he thought. " _That's no talwar, that's an No-Dachi!"_

"No!" Cried Kirito as Illfang began to leap off the walls and ceiling, building up an attack. "Jump back as fast as you can!"

Illfang struck, sending Diabel flying.

"Diabel!" Cried Kibau, only to turn straight into Illfang's snarling face.

Kirito dashed at Diabel, who was lying unmoving on the ground, health decreasing. Robyn followed suite.

"Why'd you try to do it alone?" Kirito asked, pulling out a potion only to have Diabel stop his hand.

"Because he's a Beta tester," Robyn said quietly.

"WHAT?" Exclaimed Kirito.

"He's right," Diabel said weakly. "You were too, weren't you? You know what I was doing."

"The last attack bonus," Robyn whispered. "YOU SELFISH IDIOT! WHY? WHY? YOU UNIFY THE PLAYERS JUST SO YOU CAN THROW IT ALL AWAY?!"

Diabels eyes were filled with sadness. "Please… Defeat… Defeat the boss… For everyone."

Diabel's health hit zero with a pinging sound, and he shattered into shards of light.

" _Diabel… You unified the players even though you were a beta tester… but you gave into selfishness and threw all this away. You could have led this group through all one-hundred floors, all the way to the top and got everyone out of the game faster than anyone else could… You idiot…_ " Robyn stood up and looked at Kirito. "Let's go."

"Right."

"I'll go too," their partner said, appearing at their side.

"We'll take Illfang just like the sentinels. LET'S GO!" Robyn rallied. Then charged.

"Alright," his partners said, charging after him.

The three charged the boss, blocking and striking in perfect synch as if they had been working together their whole life. Kirito blocking while Robyn and the women struck. Kirito blocked the sword and yelled "Switch!"

The women switched in, striking, but slipped up a little, not noticing the boss's talwar closing in toward her.

"Asuna!" Kirito cried.

Asuna turned and blocked the sword strike barley before it hit her face, but it knocked her back into Kirito. Illfang bore down on them, about to strike. Right before it hit, Egil quickly moved in front of them with his axe and blocked the attack. Robyn landed a critical hit on the monster and turned toward Kirito and Asuna, yelling at them to get up.

"Thanks," gasped Kirito. "One last hit guys. We'll do it together!"

"Roger," said Robyn and Asuna.

They all charged at Illfang, slashing in hacking one at a time, until Illfang began bounding off the walls again.

"I'll get you first!" Cried Kirito, bounding up toward Illfang, making a long cut through Illfang and effectively cutting him in half, shattering the boss into shards of light.

"Kirito landed on the ground as giant letters saying "Congratulations" appeared. The entire party broke into cheers as the lights went out inside the room.

"Good work," Egil congratulated Kirito. That was a splendid swordsmanship. Congratulations, this victory belongs to you."

"No…" Kirito responded quietly.

Robyn sunk down and lay on the ground with a sigh.

"Why?" Kibau yelled. Everyone parted and looked at him, who was kneeling on the ground, clearly distraught. "Why did you let Diabel die?

"Let him die?"

"Of course! You knew the technique the boss used! If you'd told us about that up front he wouldn't have died!

The crowd murmmured to each other until someone yelled out "He must be a beta tester!"

"That's how he knew all the boss's attack patterns, he knew, but didn't tell us!"

"Other beta testers are here too right? Come out!"

" _This isn't going to end well, this is exactly what Diabel was trying to prevent… And what I tried to prevent as well,_ " thought Robyn.

"Hey, come on-" started Egil when maniacal laughter interrupted him.

Robyn looked over at Kirito sharply, his eyes narrowed.

Kirito stood up, still laughing. "A beta tester? I wish you wouldn't compare me to those newbies."

"W-what?" Stuttered Kibau.

"Most of the thousand beta testers were beginners who didn't even know how to level up."

Kirito began walking through the crowd toward the entrance to the next floor. "You guys are better than they are. But I'm not like them."

Robyn watched Kirito indifferently, the look on his face suggesting he knew exactly what Kirito was doing.

Kirito stopped and turned toward the gathered crowd. "I made it higher than anyone else during the beta test. The reason I knew all the boss's skills is because I fought monsters with Katana skills on floors far above us. I know a lot more. Way more than any information broker."

"W-what?" Kibau said, sounding shocked."That's worse than being a beta tester! You're cheating! A cheater!"

The crowd began shouting at Kirito all at once.

"You're a beta tester and a cheater!"

"A beater!"

"A beater," Kibau shouted angrily. " I should kill you where you stand!" Kibau pulled out his sword and took a step in Kirito's direction. There was a flash of metal as Kibau's sword was knocked out of his hand by Robyn's swordbreaker.

"Don't make me finish what we started Kibau," growled Robyn, as his cold, blue eyes bore into Kibau's, who froze, but became even more angry.

"So you're a beater to, then huh?!"

"No… But you may as well call me one… I'm an advanced player. And I'm sticking with this guy." Robyn sheathed his sword.

"A beater... I like it," Kirito said darkly to the crowds shock. "That's right, I am a beater. From now on don't confuse me with the other testers."

Kirito entered into his menu and equipped the black "coat of midnight" and walked toward the boss room exit, followed by Robyn.

"Wait."

Asuna had followed them. "You called my name when we were fighting. "

"What, did he mess it up or something?" Said Robyn sarcastically.

"Where did you learn it?" Continued Asuna, ignoring Robyn's comment.

"Move your eyes," said Robyn. "Up, then left. Behold, what do you find there?"

"Ki-Kirito? Robyn?"

"Yeah," answered Kirito.

"Oh… it's been there all this time!" Laughed Asuna.

"Noooooo…" Said Robyn. "But in all seriousness, distance yourself from us, or you'll be hated too."

"Oh…" Said Asuna disappointedly.

"You'll be really strong," said Kirito. So if someone you trust ever asks you to join a guild, don't turn them down. There's a limit to what one can do as a solo player."

"Then what about you?

Kirito didn't answer, but walked out of the room. Robyn followed.

"Oh, Asuna?" Robyn imparted. "Don't ever forget your resolve."


	4. Chapter 4: Twin Dragons

**Sorry for the late update. I had family stuff and school is almost over. I will try to bust out some quick chapters for compensation.**

* * *

Chapter 4

Twin dragons

Kirito and Robyn walked into a large tavern on floor 25 amidst a large number of other front-liners. Asuna was there, along with Klein's guild, Furin-Kazan and the Aincrad Liberation Army, which was a large guild. There were other unnamed smaller guilds as well.

"Let's get to the point," announced Klein. "Our scouts found the boss room and checked it out and discovered that there are," he hesitated, "two boss monsters."

The front-liners let out a collective gasp. Never before had this been seen in any of the previous floors. The closest thing had been the first floor boss, Illfang, and his sentinels, but the Ruin Kobold sentinels weren't boss monsters.

"That's just wonderful news for a sunday," said Robyn sarcastically. "What do they look like?"

"According to reports, they are two dragons with snake-like bodies, one red and one white," reported Klein. "They had no visible weapons, but moved extremely fast. The scouts didn't have much time to see where they came from, except for the fact that they were not present when they walked in."

"Great," sighed Robyn.

"Then I'd say the raid party should be made up with high defense players for defending and high speed players for attacking," Kirito suggested.

Nobody liked Kirito's idea, but that's because he was a beater. Everyone sat in silence.

"That's probably the best we can do," said Asuna. Most people seemed more happy with that, as Asuna was a well respected member of the assault team.

Robyn looked disgruntled, but unsurprised. "Then let's get a move on," he sighed, and began walking out of the tavern. "Ill be there in an hour."

* * *

Kirito followed Robyn out of the tavern, Robyn not waiting for him. "You realize you just walked out on the assault team," Kirito noted.

"Yeah"

"We probably shouldn't get anymore on their bad side."

"We're already have the worst reputation possible."

"It can get better."

"That time isn't today."

Robyn turned around and looked into Kirito's eyes. "We took the part of bad guy. We have to act it for now. At least until we do something big to make them trust us. They have to be willing to trust us. It's never easy to completely change a person's mind. You have to change how they feel, not how they think."

Kirito pondered this for a minute. "Alright," he said. "But at least try to make strides."

Robyn nodded.

"Thank you," said Kirito. "Now, let's get some rest."

* * *

The raid party gathered at the large doors symbolizing the boss room. The respective guilds gathered, and when they had all arrived, Klein pushed open the door, and everyone rushed inside, sounding battle cries.

The room was long and dark, resembling a cave emblazoned with torches, with two large holes, about 8 feet in diameter, on each side of the room. The army, who had a few reckless soldiers, charged deep into the boss room, paying no heed to the the holes.

"The boss isn't here…." Thought Robyn. "Then where…. Oh God…."

The small group of army soldiers charged had reached even footing with the holes. Robyn cried out, trying to warn them, but they were past the point of no return.

Out of the holes, two dragons came flying out and smashed the army troops into shards of light, grabbing some and shoving them into their mouths as the soldiers screamed in fear.

The dragons sat upright. Two long dragons with snake-like bodies, each eight feet in diameter, roared and bared their razor sharp teeth. Their long, thin arms stretching outward in triumph, the red one with spikes on its back, a long snout, and red eyes with three black tomoe orbiting the people. The other stark white, with a mane white as snow, it's eyes with white pupils, but with veins spreading from them into it's face. It's snout was smaller than the others, but it's teeth are larger. Both radiated pure terror as they spread their leathery bat-like wings and charged the raid party, three health bars appearing near each of their heads. Their names appeared over their heads, barley seeable due to the speed of their bodies. But somehow, Robyn made them out.

'Red Vision Dragon', and 'White Vision Dragon'. Together, 'The Twin Vision Dragons'.

Most of the raid party had frozen in terror, having seen the complete annihilation of the army soldiers.

"MOVE!" Commanded Robyn, as several more troops were killed by the dragons.

"Attack!"

Asuna had charged for ward and skimmed the white dragons flank. The raid party, rallied by Asuna, charged into battle. Robyn observed the boss's patterns for a quick second before engaging. He noticed that the red one seemed to see every move before it struck, and the white all ways seemed to see where someone was before they could strike. Either way, there were no strikes achieved except for Asuna's first strike. It dawned on him that the chances of victory were slim.

"Everyone, use your teleport crystals!" Kirito shouted over the crowed. He seemed to gave made the same deduction as Robyn had. "We need to fall back!"

"There not working!" Cried an army troop. "And the dragons keep blocking the doors!"

Robyn's blood turned to ice. " _We can't escape…"_ He thought. " _We have to finish this…"_

Robyn charged into battle with his Chameleon blade, a one handed sword that raised speed but lowered attack. A good blade for this fight. He tried for the red one, but was unable to hit it. It had taken no damage whatsoever. He changed tactics aad began do slash at the white, which barley dodged every strike, always seeming to know where Robyn was, despite whether he was in the boss's blind spots or not. It seemed that the monster had turned it's attention to Robyn, and Robyn went on the defensive, dodging violent swings from the dragon. Barely dodging one strike, Robyn sliced at the dragon and made slight contact. Seeing the health bar out of the corner of his eye, he noticed it went down quite a bit for a small scratch, and realized that it's defense was extremely low.

"Kirito, cover me!" Cried Robyn.

"On it."

"Switch!"

Robyn switched out with Kirito and started striking at any possible place, trying to hit the dragon just once, but it always knew when to dodge, like it could always see him.

Something clicked in Robyn's mind. The dragon must be able to see in all directions. That left two options. The first was to destroy the eyes, which was likely impossible or nearly impossible because the dragon was likely programmed to protect them. The second option was to find a weak point, for if Kayaba wanted this game to be beaten, he would never have created an invincible boss.

Robyn began to strike at different places around the dragon, each one being dodged. He kept at this for several minutes, as more player's health bars slowley lowered. Robyn beva. To growl as he tired until he managed to strike a hit. He gasped as a whole health bar was lowered at his strike. It was a difficult place to hit, as it required a large jump and perfect timing, but nonetheless it was a hit. Robyn grinned, and as Kirito kept it's attention, Robyn leapt onto a wall and rebounded off of it, striking the one area near it's wing joints, grabbing the dragon's wing with his arm, pulled out his sword and struck the final blow.

The White dragon screeched as it disintegrated into shards of blue light. The red dragon screeched even louder at the death of it's twin. Its eyes changed so the tomoe formed into spiralling dragon claw shapes that connected at he pupil. The dragon's claws formed shells of back fire and it's speed increased.

" _This is hopeless,"_ thought Robyn. " _We can't win…"_

Robyn then noticed that a notification had popped up in front of him. The last attack bonus. His eyes widened at the sight of it.

" _If this is what I think it is, we could be saved!"_ Robyn thought.

The item that had popped up, was a small vial of white liquid, unseen by anyone in Aincrad before. There, in front of Robyn was the label, 'White Dragon Drops'.

* * *

 **I was super excited to finally reach this part. It was In my mind for a while, and then a cliffhanger... bwhahahaha.**


	5. Chapter 5: The Price of Power

**Sorry for the long Update… A lot going on. So here you go, and all of you who doubt that this is a crossover and didn't guess some of the included elements last chapter, here you go.**

* * *

 **Chapter 5**

 **The Price of Power**

Robyn gazed at the small vial, wondering if it was what he thought it was. The red dragon and it's flaming claws seemed invincible.

" _This vial could be the key…_ " He thought.

Robyn opened the vial, and noticed an illustration on the side of the bottle. It was an eye. Guessing that this was where the drops were supposed to be applied, as the liquid was not specified as drinkable.

" _Here goes nothing…"_ he thought. " _This could determine our fate…"_

Robyn lifted the vial up, and poured a drop into each of his eyes. The vial disintegrated into shards of light. At first, Robyn felt nothing, then, a splitting pain pierced his eyes as everything seemed to turn white, and his temples throbbed. Letting out a cry, Robyn fell to the ground. Holding the sides of his head with both hands. Then, just as quickly as it had arrived, the pain was gone, and his vision changed. Robyn looked up, and realized he could see the energy levels of everyone, including the boss, and where their energy was exiting. Quickly pulling out a mirror, he saw that his pupils were pure white, with veins pulsing on the outer sides of his eyes. He zeroed in on the boss, startling himself as his eyes seemed to zoom in on it. He could track it easier, as it was leaking different energy than the players.

" _Something's different…_ " Robyn thought. He scanned the boss, then realized that the only energy source existing the dragon was on the nape of its neck, surrounded by spikes.

" _A weak point!"_ He realized. Zeroing in on it, he drew his sword and charged, getting behind the dragon and charging. The dragon, turning its head, noticed Robyn on its peripheral vision and lashed out at him, preventing Robyn from striking. The dragon looked at his eyes, and his rage seemed to increase, its arms now covered with the black flames and the black flames filling its mouth. It struck faster and faster. Robyn, barely dodging each strike.

"I don't think it likes that you killed it's friend!" Called Kirito.

"Yeah, I kinda' figured that!" Yelled Robyn. "Shut up!"

Robyn jumped and slashed at the beast, who dodged, and retaliated. They flew at each other, their respective eyes allowing each other to dodge all the strikes, until Robyn stumbled, falling over. The dragon leered over him, his red eyes showing no mercy, as he raised his arm for a final strike. Robyn raised his sword above him, ready to go out fighting, Kirito ran in front of him and sliced off the dragons hand, causing a decent amount of damage.

Roaring, the red dragon spit black flames everywhere, effectively covering itself in them, but it didn't perturb it as if slashed Kirito against the wall.

It's attention now focused on Kirito, the dragon swiped down ready to finish off Kirito.

Robyn scrambled to his feet. Everything seemed to move in slow motion as he ran towards Kirito, memories bombarding his mind as he ran toward him. Screams, the flash of a knife, maniacal laughter.

" _I'm not fast enough…_ " Robyn realized. " _I won't get there in time…"_

Robyn closed his eyes. " _I'm sorry…"_ He thought silently.

Suddenly, Asuna was there, and she swiftly repelled the attack, as Klein came in and cut off the dragons last hand. The dragon reared, spitting flames everywhere, and those unlucky enough to be engulfed by them were disintegrated.

Kirito stood and ran to Robyn's side, along with Asuna and Klein. Robyn let out a sigh of relief.

"Robyn, your eyes!" Exclaimed Kirito. "They're-"

"Never mind them for now, I'll explain later!" Robyn said."Now don't do that again."

"How about we stop trying to tackle this solo?" Suggested Kirito with a grin.

"Alright…. partner."

Kirito didn't have time to look surprised before Robyn charged, getting behind the beast. "Keep its attention!" He yelled at Kirito, Klein and Asuna.

Klein sighed, but charged the beast. Asuna muttered under her breath about how Kirito and Robyn were idiots, but followed suite. Kirito grinned and charged.

Kirito opened his menu and pulled out a weak sword. Then, using his sword throw skill, threw his weaker sword at the dragon's face, effectively aggroing it. The dragon turned toward Kirito and attacked.

Robyn eyed the dragon's weak spot. Difficult to reach, he considered his options and tried jumping off the wall the same way he did to defeat the white dragon, but the dragon's patterns kept it too high to be hit from the correct angle.

Robyn tried this several times with no avail, and everyone else was losing health. Desperately, he shouted; "Kirito! Gimme a lift!"

Kirito understood, running behind the monster and bracing his sword horizontally above his head. Robyn ran and jumped, landing on Kirito's sword and kicking off of it, gaining more height and plunging his sword into the red dragon's weak spot, sealing it to the red.

Robyn's face filled with rage, and began to strike the dragon with his fist, Roaring at the beast in between strikes; "I-" "HAVE-" "HAD-" "ENOUGH-" "OF-" "YOU!"

Robyn struck the dragon, putting every point of his strength stat into the punch, and moving his arm as fast as his speed parameter would allow, roaring at the top of his lungs. The dragon let out a long shriek, the flames on its body disappearing as it fell to the ground, exploding into shards of light.

The entire raid party collapsed, breathing heavily.

"How many did we lose?" Asked Asuna.

"Twenty-seven," said Agil. "About Twenty of them were the fools that rushed in at the start of the boss fight."

Everyone sat in silence, taking on everything that just happened. Robyn noticed that the last attack bonus window for the red dragon had appeared in front of him. On it, was the item " _Red Dragon Drops."_

" _It must be the red dragon's eyes…"_ Robyn thought.

Robyn opened his menu and noticed that the skill that was currently being used in his eyes was called _Byakugan_. He deactivated it and put the new drops in his eyes. A moment of searing pain later, Robyn blinked. He could see everything in his normal field of vision, but he could see everything. Not through things like the Byakugan, but the tiniest little details. The moving of someone's fingers, and their output of energy. He could read their lips and repeat their movements perfectly. He opened his inventory and pulled out his hand mirror and held it up to his face and gazed into it. His eyes were red, with a black tomoe in between the pupil and the eyelid.

Robyn then realized that this was the price of power. The twenty-three lives that had been taken had played for these eyes in blood. " _If this was the price payed for this power, then I will use it to fight. I will break free from this game. I swear to the twenty-three lives that were taken that you Will. Be. Avenged."_

* * *

 **That's it for now. I'll try to roll out another chapter soon.**


	6. Chapter 6: The Moonlit Black Cats

**Yeaaahhhh.. I don't really have an excuse for taking THREE MONTHS to update. All I can say is that I'm sorry and will do my best to update more. I don't want this to feel incomplete because I had to rush.**

* * *

 **Chapter 6**

 **The Moonlit Black cats**

"Here's to us, the Moonlit Black Cats!"

"Cheers!"

"Ch-Cheers…" Kirito and Robyn echoed.

The 4 people in front of them had been rescued by Kirito and Robyn from a group of mobs that were about to slaughter them. Wanting to thank them, they brought them to the inn they stayed at for drinks, all of them thanking Kirito and Robyn repeatedly.

There was Sachi, a meek girl who used a spear, wearing a baby blue tunic with a blue skirt and chestplate, complimenting her hair, which was navy colored.

Then there was Ducker, a blonde thief who wore a orange cloak over a yellow tunic and Brown pants, his grey beanie making the style effectively his. The smile on his face pegging him as the mischief maker.

Sasamaru had neck length brown hair and dark green clothes with a gray chest and shoulder guard along with a blue hat.

Tetsuo was tall, sporting a purple shirt with a chestplate with messy brown hair, He was the only tank of the group.

And finally, there was keita, the brown-haired guild leader. He had a brown top and a chestplate. His bright brown eyes shown with optimism.

"T-Thank you for saving us," stammered Sachi with a tear in her eye. "I was so scared. I thought I was going to die."

"Yeah, Thanks!" echoed the others, raising their glasses once again.

Kirito sat there looking uncomfortable, stammering a quiet, "N-No problem." Robyn sat quiet, unmoving, not making eye contact with any of the cats, feet up on the table.

Keita approached them and whispered "Hey, I know its rude to ask, but what level are you guys?"

Kirito swallowed his drink, and stammered, "Uh, level 20."

Robyn watched Kirito with narrowed eyes. In his head he screamed, " _WHAT ARE YOU DOING, WE'RE LEVEL 40!"_

"Amazing!" Keita exclaimed. "You too are solo players and are that high a level? How do you do it?"

"Keita, don't act so amazed," Kirito sighed. "The soloing system is really inefficient. We're always targeting solo, low level targets. Our experience level goes up slower than a sloth."

Keita's smile disappeared for a split second, but was quickly back as Keita made an inquiry which shocked Kirito and Robyn. "You're still a huge inspiration! Would you consider joining our guild?"

Kirito shifted in his seat at this suggestion, while Robyn removed his feet from the table and sat up, sitting up straight in his chair. "Why?" he asked in a quiet, but serious voice.

"Well," started Keita, " Tetsuo is are only player who can play the vanguard position. It would help to have more. Also, We were thinking of training Sachi to play a Vanguard position with a shield and sword, and I thought you two could help her out?"

"Why have her switch over and not one of the rest of you?" asked Robyn.

"Well," started Keita, "She doesn't have as much strength so she wouldn't be as good of a damage dealer, and she invested points on defense so that'd be ideal."

"Ah, pick the one who is the smallest, and by the look in her eye, most afraid, to be in front. I follow your logic."

The cats laughed as Sachi grew angry. "You don't have to talk about me like I'm useless!" she said with a frown.

"Ah, Sachi, you're just a scaredy cat," laughed Ducker.

"No, she's not, " said Robyn. "I see more fear than that. You can't put her as vanguard."

Keita opened his mouth to speak, but Kirito interrupted, "We'll join."

Robyn glared at Kirito. He stood and grabbed Kirito's shoulder. "Can we talk?" He said, but didn't wait for approval before walking out of the inn, Kirito following.

* * *

"What are you thinking?" growled Robyn, turning on Kirito as they left the inn.

"I was going to ask the same question!" Retorted Kirito.

"I _was_ stopping them from putting a girl on the vanguard, but you stopped me!"

"Well, maybe she would be fine!"

"Yeah right," Robyn snorted. "And I'm a slime. Also, you have no right to be telling me off when you _TOLD_ them that _WE_ were level _20_!"

Kirito stayed silent for a minute, then responded slowly, "I thought they'd hate us if they knew our real level."

"Of course they would!" snarled Robyn. You're a beater, and I'm associated with you! They'd have ran if they knew who we were!"

"But they didn't. They don't know who we are. We can help them!" Kirito finished with a defiant look in his eye.

They stared at each other for a few moments, glaring into each other's eyes.

"Fine." Robyn snapped. "But the girl doesn't play vanguard, I do."

"Fine with me," conceded Kirito. "But you'll have to take that up with them.

* * *

Kirito and Robyn re-entered the inn and sat down. Kirito spoke first, saying "we have agreed to join your guild."

The cats cheered, but Robyn cleared his throat and said, "But…"

The cats cheers died, grins falling from their faces. " I want to play the vanguard with Tetsuo," Robyn announced.

"Are you saying I can't handle it?" Sachi stammered angrily.

"Not yet at least," Robyn reassured her. "I'll train the lot of you. Take it or leave it."

The cats looked at each other, debating with their eyes. They all nodded as Keita walked forward, extending his hand. "Welcome to the Moonlit Black Cats."

* * *

 **Again I apologize, and I know I say this alot, but new chapter out soon.**


	7. Chapter 7: Responsibility

**Maybe I should just stop saying when I am going to post next….**

* * *

 **Chapter 7**

 **Responsibility**

Kirito woke late the next morning, the sun singing through the window onto his face. He sat up and stretched, letting out a long yawn. Getting out of bed and scratching his back, Kirito looked over at the other bed in the small hotel room and noticed it was empty. Looking at the bed blankly for a second, swiped his right hand down and opened the menu, equipping his black coat, which sported a yellow crescent moon above his heart and a tall collar.

Walking down the stairs, Kirito found no trace of his guild. Kirito approached the counter and ordered some breakfast. The npc came back with it, and Kirito, finishing quickly, asked the npc if he saw where his guild went.

"Out back," he said. "By the way, the boy in blue said to put the guilds breakfast on your tab. And he also left you the room bill as well."

Kirito choked on his food as the bill appeared in front of him, eyes popping out of hIs head.

* * *

Robyn lunged, aiming for Keita's face, only to be blocked by Keita's sword. Engaged in a blade lock, the two pushed against each other, swords flashing in the sunlight. Keita's arms began to shake as Robyn's superior strength stat began to overwhelm him. He began to overpower his opponent, leaning him back. Keita's brow filled with sweat as he let out a roar, pushing back with all his strength. Robyn snorted, and pushed Keita into the ground.

Keita sprawled out on the ground, gasping for breath as Robyn sheathed his sword. "Surrender the duel, will you?" he called as he walked away. "I don't like attacking defenseless people."

Keita laughed. "Coulda' fooled me," he said, but surrendered the duel nonetheless.

"You're not defenseless. You're just not any good yet."

The other Cats snorted, while Keita grimaced and sheathed his sword.

Robyn looked toward the inn, where he saw a disgruntled Kirito walking toward him. "Well," he called. "The zombie lives!"

Kirito looked at Robyn with a sour face. "Why'd you leave me the bill?!"

" Because you got me into all this."

"You ordered the most expensive things on the menu!"

"Relax, I told everyone it was on you."

"And the room?"

"You were still sleeping, so left you to deal with it."

"Whatever," Kirito sighed. " Anyway, what have you all been doing this early?"

"Training," Robyn announced, crossing his arms. "Everyone woke me up this morning so that we could get an early start. We tried to wake you, but you're a rock when you're asleep."

"Why does Keita have a sword?" Kirito asked.

The cats giggled. "It seems our leader was inspired by Robyn last night," Ducker smirked. "He got up the earliest and bought a sword."

"Cut the chitchat," Robyn said. "Ducker, because you seem so eager, you can duel me next."

* * *

"Alright everyone," Keita announced. "I've got good news!"

"Are we in debt to the mob?" asked Robyn.

Keita looked at Robyn with a puzzled face. "Should we be?"

"Hopefully not, 'cause that would be bad news, now go on."

Keita, slowly turned back toward the rest of the guild. "Alright, because of our last hunting trip, we now have more than two-hundred thousand col in the guild's storage!"

The cats broke out in whispers, everyone excited about what they could do with their gold. "We could buy a house 28th that kind of col!" announced Ducker.

"Or we could upgrade Sachi's equipment?" wondered Sasamaru.

"I-I'll be fine," stammered Sachi.

"What do you think Robyn?" asked Tetsuo. "Get a house or upgrade Sachi's equipment?"

"Yes." responded Robyn, who was lying horizontally on one of the beds in the room with his eyes closed.

"Aaaaaallllrright," Keita continued. "All in favor of a house, say 'I!'"

* * *

Kirito and Robyn talked quietly as they walked toward the inn where the guild was currently staying, or, to be more exact, Kirito talked while Robyn gave his usual one worded answers. As they made their way through town, a message appeared in front of the both of them, from Keita.

 _Kirito, Robyn,_

 _Sachi ran off somewhere. Were not sure where she is, but we can't find her. Can you look into it? We're all looking over here too._

 _Thanks,_

 _Keita_

Robyn sighed, but sprung into action. He opened his menu and equipped his byakugan. Activating it, he used the near 360° of vision to look around. Experimenting with the byakugan in the past had revealed to home that he could see through solid objects. Using this capability, he saw Sachi under a bridge across the town and ran off toward her leaving Kirito in the dust with his superior speed stat.

Robyn stepped outside the bridge's opening, and looked inside. Sachi sat, head buried in her arms, near the center of the bridge. The moonlight shone on her leg, partially revealing her huddled body. Robyn heard Kirito stop behind him, panting for breath as he looked over Robyn's shoulder at Sachi.

"Sachi," Robyn called out. "What are you doing down here?"

Sachi lifted her head slightly. "Kirito… Robyn…"

Robyn moved forward and sat down a distance away from Sachi. Kirito followed suite. "Everyone's been worried sick," Robyn said.

"Why are we here?" Sachi asked. "Why are we in this place? What are we fighting for?" Sachi looked at the two boys with tears in her eyes. " I just want to run away. Run away from this town, the monsters, the moonlit black cats," Sachi buried her head in her knees again, "even from Sword Art Online."

"If you think killing yourself is the answer, it's not," said Robyn plainly.

"No…" whispered Sachi, "If I were brave enough to die, I wouldn't be hiding in the middle of a safe city would I?" Sachi hugged her knees tighter. "I guess… I'm just afraid to die."

Kirito let out a small gasp, while Robyn looked down a little, his eyes holding a small tinge of sadness.

"You won't die," said Kirito. "They'll beat this game, and we'll be free. Until then, we'll make sure you're safe."

"Really?" sniffed Sachi. "I don't have to die?"

"The cats saftey margins are well above average," added Robyn.

"You won't have to die," assured Kirito.

Sachi looked at them, a tear welling in her eye. "Thank you," she whispered quietly. The single tear fell as her lips raised in a soft smile.

* * *

Kirito and Robyn sat in their inn room, each sitting on their respective beds, silent as mice. They'd arrived in silence, said goodnight to the rest of the cats and immediately left for their room.

Robyn broke the silence, looking at Kirito. "Kirito, will you take responsibility for Sachi?"

"Where did that come from?" asked Kirito with a surprised look on his face.

"I'm not fit to be a protector. I'll train her, of course, but no more than that."

"What do you mean by that?"

"It means watch over her. Fulfill the promise you made to her." Robyn looked up at Kirito, his eyes still with that tinge of sadness from under the bridge.

"Why do you think yourself to be unfit?" asked Kirito.

"That's a story for another day," Robyn said.

"But-" Kirito started, but was interrupted by a small knock on the door.

"Come in," called Robyn.

In came Sachi, dressed in her nightgown and holding a pillow. "I-I'm sorry, R-Robyn, K-Kirito can I sleep in here? I can't sleep."

Kirito's eyes popped and sweat began to trickle down his head with nervousness, while Robyn raised an eyebrow, but also began to sweat nervously.

"Uhh… sure?" answered Kirito, sounding slightly nervous.

Robyn snapped out of his surprise, then stood. "I call the couch!" he said grabbing a blanket and pillow.

"N-no I can-" started Sachi.

"Nonsense, it's fine," Robyn said. He made his way to the couch that was at the far end of their room and collapsed on it, seemingly asleep instantly.

* * *

Kirito awoke with a start, and sat up. He opened his menu and looked at the time, noticing it had only been a few hours after they'd turned out the lights. He'd been dreaming again. Dreaming of life outside SAO, life with his family, only to have it all swallowed up by blood, taken by the large form of Kayaba Akihiko. Kirito looked around, and saw that Sachi was asleep with a look of relief on her face. Upon further investigation, he noticed that Robyn's couch lay empty, but the balcony door lay open. Getting out of bed, Kirito walked toward the open door and looked out. Robyn was nowhere to be seen. He looked up and behind him, and saw Robyn on the tiles roof, gazing at the full moon.

Kirito climbed to the top of the balcony railing, and further up to the roof. Walking slowly to keep his balance, Kirito approached Robyn, who never took his eyes off of the moon.

"Hey," said Kirito.

"What're you doing up here at this time of night?" asked Robyn.

"I could ask you the same question."

"I couldn't sleep."

"You were out like a light!"

"That was to make it so Sachi would take the bed," retaliated Robyn. "Now, why're you up? You sleep like a rock."

Kirito shrugged. "Ehh… just a dream. Woke me up. I saw you were missing, so I went to find you. Now, your turn. Why can't you sleep?"

"None of your business."

Kirito crossed his arms. "C'mon, now. If we're partners, then you have to trust me."

"Where's it say that?" asked Robyn sarcastically.

"I'm going to stay here until you tell me."

"Fine."

Kirito and Robyn stood in silence for a few minutes, neither moving.

"Fine, I'll tell you," snapped Robyn. "Today stirred up some old memories. NOW LEAVE ME BE!"

Kirito left Robyn on the roof, still staring at the moon. Taking one last look before climbing off the roof, he thought to himself; " _It's a start."_

* * *

"Teleport: Town Of Beginnings!" Keita teleported away. The choice had pretty much been unanimous. Everyone, except Robyn, who abstained, had voted to purchase a house.

"Hey, While Keita's getting the house, why don't we get some more col for furniture?" proposed Tetsuo.

"That's a good idea!" agreed Ducker. "On to the 27th floor!"

"Hold on guys, I'm not sure if this is a good idea," Kirito said Nervously.

"I'm with Kirito on this one," agreed Robyn. "Too dangerous."

"We'll be fine," said Sasamaru. "On the 27th floor we can earn col faster, and more of it!"

"That floor was only cleared a little while ago, it's still dangerous for most people."

"We've been training a lot," Ducker reasoned. "Plus, we've got you two!"

The guild made for the teleport gate, ecstatic about the potential col they could earn. Kirito and Robyn looked at each other nervously.

"I've got a bad feeling about this," Robyn said.

* * *

The black cats did a good job on the 27th floor. As they moved deeper Into the dungeon, they battled tougher mobs, but they never were in danger of dying.

"We've got plenty of col," Robyn insisted, "let's head back."

They began to return to the entrance of the dungeon, when Ducker's treasure hunting skill picked up a secret passage. He turned toward the wall and put his hand on a spot on the wall, revealing a doorway. Inside the room there was a single chest, sitting in the center of the room.

"All right!" cheered Ducker, Tetsuo and Sasamaru.

" _Totally_ not a trap," Robyn said sarcastically. But his voice faltered as the three boys ran into the room and made a beeline for the chest.

Kirito and Robyn let out a simultaneous "NO!" and charged into the room.

But it was too late. Ducker had opened the chest. The atmosphere instantly changed. The walls, once a dark teal color, began to pulse red as several secret doors opened on the sides of the walls. Out of them came Dark Dwarf Miners, three feet tall and armed with pickaxes, and mineral golems, thin, rocky monsters, but seven feet tall.

"Everyone, teleport crystals, NOW!" yelled Robyn.

Ducker raised a crystal. "Teleport: Taft!" he shouted.

Nothing happened. The crystal remained inactive. Ducker shook it, repeating the command. The look on his face became gradually more panicked as the crystal didn't perform its duties. Talk a few steps forward, he shouted out in despair.

"It's not working!" he screamed. Drawing his sword, he charged toward a group of mineral golems without the slightest thought, his mind taken by fear.

"An anti-crystal zone!" yelled Kirito.

"Don't separate!" cried Robyn. He activated his sharingan, which he had trained so that it had three tomoe orbiting the pupil. This effect made it so Robyn took virtually no damage because of his move prediction techniques alongside Kirito covering his six.

Robyn's words were unheard by the guild, whose expressions had turned to horror in the face of doom. They spread out throughout the room, desperately trying to survive. Ducker continued charging at the mineral golems, but tripped, skidding on his face and landing face down on the ground. Immediately, a group of dwarves surrounded him, pickaxes raised.

They were unable to reach Ducker. He and Kirito were surrounded, and they were standing back to back and carving through as many monsters as they could, as fast as they could.

The dwarves let their pickaxes fall, then picked them up and repeated the motion. Ducker let out a bloodcurdling scream as the dwarves hacked at his squirming, writhing body until he dissolved into shards of light.

A few seconds later, Tetsuo was knocked back and dissolved into light, then Sasamaru was killed from behind.

Sachi was barely holding on. Her spear keeping the enemy back, but not for long. She pushed a golem back and looked over at the pair.

"K-Kirito, R-Robyn…" she stammered, a deep fear in her voice. The fear of dying. The fear of death. The fear of losing her friends. The fear of the monsters. The fear of never returning to the real world. All these fears were put into her voice as she spoke their names.

Time seemed to slow down for Robyn as her voice filled him. The memories returned, but in greater quantities. The screams, the flashes of blades, the laughter, the rage. And the sadness. The sadness came hardest of all. A single tear falling from his eye as his old memories combined with the loss of his guild. He looked over toward Sachi. An arm was falling toward her back. A golem was attacking her from behind, and Sachi wasn't noticing. He felt a change in his eyes. Blood leaked out of hi lefts eye, turning into shards as it fell from his face. He channeled his sadness, _his Anger_ , into his eye, as the arm of the golem behind Sachi was absorbed into a swirling vortex.

Sachi looked behind her and stabbed the golem. A revelation seemed to befall her, the closeness of her death sinking in. She shook it off and turned back to fight, but was becoming overwhelmed by monsters once again.

Robyn's overwhelmed mind snapped. Letting forth every emotion he'd refused to feel, he charged forward in rage. Hacking, slashing and stabbing, not even caring if he was injured anymore. He made his way over to Sachi and obliterated her enemies. His sword a blur, he flew throughout the room, bent on destroying the monsters that took the lives of innocent people.

* * *

Robyn walked out of the room slowly, sword still drawn, eyes still glowing red. He stood in the middle of the dungeon hallway, unmoving, the realization of what he'd just done setting in. Sachi and Kirito followed him out. Sachi, with tears in her eyes, sat against the wall, her head buried in her knees.

"Robyn."

Robyn snapped out of his focused mindset. He shook his head and looked back over his shoulder at Kirito. Kirito had a look of shock on his face as he looked at his hand. At first glance, it looked as if Kirito had his hand on Robyn's shoulder, but upon closer inspection, he had his hand _inside_ Robyn's shoulder. But after the magnitude of what they had just witnessed, it was hard to be shocked.

" _Maybe a glitch in the game?"_ Robyn thought.

Kirito pulled his hand away and attempted to make contact again, succeeding this time."Look at your health bar," he pointed out. "Also… your eyes...they're… different."

Robyn looked at his health bar. To his surprise, It was close to full. He then opened his menu and pulled out the mirror that had been given to him by Kayaba Akihiko at the start of this nightmare. Looking into it, he noticed that his sharingan had morphed. The once simple design had become intricate, becoming a thin, three- pronged pinwheel, with straight, black lines on the inside corners.

Robyn put away the mirror and opened his skill menu. A new skill had been added _._

"It's called the _Mangekyo Sharingan_." he reported with a hollow voice. "According to the description, it can create portals in space-time, send other things to another space-time, send myself to another space time, or allow me to phase through objects. This particular sharingan is called the "Kamui" sharingan. I guess that explains why I took no damage…"

Robyn walked toward Sachi and leaned against the wall next to her, sliding down until he hit the ground.

"Kirito… about what I asked you yesterday, I tame it back. I won't have you do it alone. I have been granted a great power, and with it, comes a great responsibility.

Kirito nodded in understanding, joining him on the ground. And the two boys sat, listening to the sounds of Sachi's quiet sobs.

* * *

Keita dropped the keys to the house he'd just purchased. His eyes widened in shock at what had just come out of Kirito's mouth. His hands shook as a wave of understanding and anger took him over.

"Y-you're beaters? All this time?"

"Yes," said Robyn simply.

"You never had the right to join us, you never should have. You killed them!"

Keita's voice punctured into them. They stood in silence, Sachi behind them, unsuccessfully holding back tears. "They saved our lives Keita. That one day, they saved our lives. Remember?"

Keita said nothing, but climbed on top of some nearby railing that overlooked the soon-to-rise sun. The trio gasped and lurched forward as Keita jumped.

" _It's our fault… and now we can't stop him."_ Kirito thought.

But suddenly, he saw Robyn run full speed toward the railing, and leaped over, diving after Keita.

* * *

Robyn wasn't sure what he was thinking. He acted on instinct. As he felt the wind around him, he caught up to Keita, who yelped in surprise as Robyn grabbed onto him. His Mangekyo Sharingan flared to life as he yelled; " _KAMUI!"_ and felt the two of them get twisted around, their bodies warped into nothingness as he sucked them both into a portal centered on his eyes.

They landed with an " _oof!"_ onto hard stone. Robyn sat up, and looks at their surroundings. All their was was dimly lit black space, with bluish white stones floating randomly around them.

"Why did you stop me?!" screamed Keita, tears in his eyes. "Why didn't you let me die?!"

He grabbed Robyn's collar as he yelled obscenities at him. Robyn sat still, his eyes empty, until he grabbed Keita's collar and returned them to Kirito and Sachi. They screamed when they saw them appear, and then looked immensely relieved.

Robyn stood and threw Keita to the ground. "You ask why I let you live," he said angry, his eyes the coldest anyone had ever seen. "You ask why I stopped you from ending your own life."

He stood there for a minute, as Keita, Sachi and Kirito all watched him.

"You have so much to live for, Robyn yelled. His voice steadily rising as he let his emotionally tolled mind let words spew forth onto Keita. " You want to kill yourself. Tell me, what would your friends say when you got to the other side? Would they be happy with you? Would Sachi, who you would leave here, the last of all of your friends, be happy with you? No., he said., The contempt in his voice growing stronger as he glared at the pitiful voy sit to f in front of him. "I ask that you live. Live not for me, and not for Kirito, but for Sachi, and for the lives of the friends of which you lost. Resolve to protect your friend... and your friend's memories."

Robyn approached the railing and looked out at the glowing orange sky. "I await your decision."

Keita sat in silence, going over it in his head, until he broke down, sobbing. "S-Sachi… I-I'm S-Sorry." he cried.

Sachi rushed to him and hugged her wailing friend. "I-It's okay Keita. We'll g-get through this. Together."

They sat while Keita let out his sorrows onto Sachi's shoulder. Robyn gazed out at the sky, his eyes empty. Kirito looked at the ground, eyes full of sadness.

After a while, Keita sat up. He looked at Robyn. "Fine," he said. "I'll stay. For Sachi. But I can't lead the guild anymore."

"Fine," Robyn said, and as he spoke, dawn broke, sending rays of orange light as far as the eyes could see. "The Moonlit black cats will be disbanded. The moon will set, the sun will rise. "A new dawn. A new start. The day breaks." Robyn turned to look at all of them. "We are… The Akatsuki."


	8. Chapter 8: Remembrance

**Writer's block and school allow me to complete these stories at THE FASTEST pace possible.**

* * *

 **Chapter 8**

 **Remembrance**

* * *

Robyn strode across the town square on floor one, through the laughter and joy that was a Christmas celebration. His face was a blank slate as he made his way around the dancing children and the starry-eyed couples. Kirito had run off somewhere, but he trusted him not to be stupid enough to end his own life. Sachi was out with Keita, who was kept under watch at all times until they were sure he wouldn't end his life. Trudging on, he made his way through the crowd until he found his intended destination: an old wooden church. Wiping his feet on the mat on the floor out of habit, he proceeded to the front of the empty church. Sitting in the front pew, he sighed and slumped over, his thoughts filled with memories and regrets.

What seemed like hours stretched out, as the celebrations outside continued without end. Absorbed in his thoughts, Robyn tuned out the world, so that all he could hear was himself. But this trance collapsed when the door opened.

Robyn's hand twitched instinctively, but he ordered it to stay still, as the rational parts of his brain told him that it couldn't be anything of harm. He ignored the presence as it approached the front of the room, returning to his state of remembrance. The figure hesitated as they noticed Robyn sitting in the front, but continued forward and sat in the adjacent pew. He didn't look at the stranger. He didn't want to. He was here for his own reasons, they were here for theirs.

"Nice night isn't it?" spoke the stranger. The voice was obviously a female's, which didn't change his attitude toward the stranger in the slightest.

Biting back a retort, Robyn realized he had to talk. He thought for a second, then answered. "I guess so. But it's all a matter of opinion."

"That was a little morbid," she replied.

"Why do you say that?"

"It's Christmas," she said simply.

"And?"

"Why else would you be in a church right now?"

The question caught him slightly off guard. He wasn't used to being pressed while in a bad mood. And since he was in a bad mood most of the time, that was all the time. He looked over at her for the first time. She was slightly shorter than Robyn, with shoulder length black hair and green eyes. Visibly about the same age as him, she wore a black coat that went down a little past her waist, and a pair of knee high boots, with a two-handed sword sheathed behind her.

"Can you just tell me what you want?" Robyn asked, irritation clearly present in his voice.

"Can I not walk into a church and talk to the people I find inside?"

Robyn stayed silent, begrudgingly admitting that she had a point. There was silence for a few minutes, before the woman spoke again.

"So, what's your name?"

Robyn hesitated. He knew that giving out his name could be a potential disaster. Most people had a deep dislike for beaters, along with anyone associated with them. But somehow, he knew that this occasion was different. This person meant no harm. He didn't need his sharingan to know that.

"Robyn," he said quickly.

If she knew who he was, it was obvious that she didn't care. "I'm Alpha."

Robyn grunted in reply. He still wasn't sure what she wanted. Normally, reading people was easy. Alpha, however, wasn't easily read. It frustrated him.

"So, why are you here, all alone, on Christmas day?" Alpha asked.

The question surprised him. Normally, people didn't want to inquire into his life.

"Why do you want to know?" replied Robyn suspiciously.

"I don't," she said simply. She lifted her legs up onto the pew so that her chin could rest on her knees. "I just thought that you looked like you needed someone to talk to."

Robyn didn't speak. "So, what's got you down?" Alpha continued. "Besides the fact that you're in a death game."

The light joke was bold, considering Robyn's mood, and the fact that this game was no joke. Luckily, Robyn appreciated the attempt at humor.

"Well, half my guild just died, so I'm not in a great mood," Robyn said dryly.

Alpha was quiet for a second, after hearing this. "I'm so sorry," she said. "What happened?"

"I don't feel like discussing it," Robyn said.

"Well, then tell me about your first day in this game.

"It's not an interesting story," Robyn.

Alpha raised her eyebrows in surprise. "Not interesting? It was a life changing event! Everyone has a different perspective on it, and I'd like to hear yours."

"Its simple," Robyn said with a bored voice." I listened to Kayaba, made sure I was well prepared, and moved on from the town of beginnings."

"Welp, I can tell that you're not telling the whole story," Alpha said. She stood and stretched. "But I've got to go prep for tomorrow."

"Prep for what?" Robyn asked.

"I've got a store," Alpha announced. "Drop by sometime." she handed him a card and strode out of the church. Robyn's eyes followed her as she left, her boots the only audible noise until the door opened. She paused and turned her head back. She smiled, and left.

Robyn sat in the pew uncomfortably, visibly disgruntled. He was normally great at reading people at first glance. He prided himself on it. But this… this woman was different. She could not be read like the average person. He looked at the card. It read; "Alpha clothing and jewelry". Absorbed in his thoughts, he sat for several minutes, until a message appeared in front of him.

" _Wha...?"_ Robyn thought.

The message was from Sachi. A voice recorder was attached, but he didn't touch it, for the attached message requested to have Kirito and himself present when it was opened. He stood and immediately rushed for the teleport gate, on the way messaging Kirito to meet him at their inn room.

* * *

Kirito slowly walked into the room he shared with Robyn, a sullen look on his face. Robyn stood up from the couch he had been sitting in. "Kirito, you have to see..." His words trailed off after seeing the look on his friends face.

"What happened?" Robyn asked.

Kirito merely shook his head. Robyn, frustrated, approached him. "We can do this the easy way or the hard way," he said, his sharingan blazing to life. "I can pull your memories from your mind. Don't make me."

Kirito was seemingly oblivious to Robyn's words. Robyn sighed, and forced Kirito's chin upward and looked him in the eye.

* * *

The clouds of hazy memory flew around Robyn's fabricated body as he floated in the dark subconscious of Kirito's .

" _Curious,"_ Robyn thought. " _The nerve gear must have a secret connection to its wearer's memories, and transmits them to my brain, where they are visualized."_

He shook his head. Now was not the time to think about the capabilities of the nerve gear.

He began to sift through the blurred memories, and somehow knew which one he was looking for without knowing it. He eventually came to one memory that was clear. He watched as Kirito met with Argo, the information broker, with Klein and FurinKazan, briefly tangled with the Holy Dragon Alliance, and fought Nicholas the Renegade underneath a massive pine tree. The item he received upon victory was a small blue orb, capable of reviving a player up to five seconds after death.

Realizing why Kirito had gone to such lengths for the item, Robyn's heart sank. He continued to watch as Kirito gave the item to Klein and trudged off.

Absorbed in thoughts, Robyn paid no attention to another memory surfacing. A younger Kirito and a girl who looked similar were with an old man. The old man struck Kirito across the face, and Robyn realized he should leave quickly.

* * *

Robyn pulled his mind out of Kirito's head and collapsed. Collecting his breath, he looked at Kirito with regret in his eyes. "I looked too far," he said, and looked away. "I… I apologize."

Kirito shook his head and sat on his bed. "It's alright," he said.

They were silent for a minute before Robyn stood and glared at Kirito. "Don't blame yourself for their death. I trained them, and I let them go."

"But-" Kirito started, but Robyn cut him off.

"Don't argue," he said. "But come look at this."

Kirito stood and followed Robyn to the table they shared in their room, a look of confusion on his face. Robyn sat, and motioned for Kirito to sit next to him.

When they were both seated, Robyn pulled out the voice record left by Sachi. Kirito looked confused, as he saw the letter attached.

"Why-?" he began

"I don't know," he interrupted. "Let's find out."

Robyn opened the message, and the the recorder opened, and Sachi's voice played from it.

"Merry Christmas, Kirito and Robyn! By the time you hear this, I'll probably be dead.

How can I explain this, let's see...  
To tell you the truth, I never really wanted to leave the Town of Beginnings.  
And I knew if I fought with an attitude like that, I would end up dying someday.  
But that's not anyone's fault. That's something I have to deal with.

Ever since that night you two found me, you kept telling me I wasn't going to die, no matter what.  
But what if I got killed anyway? I knew that if I died, you'll blame yourself.  
That's why I decided to record this for you.

By the way, I know how powerful you both really are. Sorry.  
I sort of peeked when you weren't looking.  
I wondered why you weren't telling the truth about what level players you really were.  
I wondered why you decided to fight with us. I never figured it out though.  
You know what? When I found out how strong you were, I don't know, it made me so happy.  
I was so relieved.  
So even if I die, promise me you'll go on living, okay, you two?

Stay alive, so you can see the end of this world, and find out why it was created. Find out why a weakling like me ended up here. Find out the reason we all met. Please.  
That's what I wish.  
Looks like I still have time, so...  
Seeing how it's Christmas and everything, I'll sing you a song."

Sachi began singing "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer" through the message. The two boys sat at the table shaking, Kirito with a few solitary tears sliding down his cheek, while Robyn gritted his teeth and held back tears, until the message finished it's song, and Sachi spoke once more. 

"Anyway, I'm so glad that I met you both, and that I could be with you... even for a little while.

Thank you. Goodbye."

The recording disappeared into shards of blue light, and the two swordsman sat, shaking.

"I'll never look into your mind again," said Robyn with a hoarse whisper. "Or anyone. I promise, because… because everyone has secrets to keep."


End file.
